Rahul on becoming PM: There are other jobs too!

Rahul on becoming PM: There are other jobs too!

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said becoming prime minister is not the only 'job' in the world and that there were many other jobs a person could do.

The scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family responded in this fashion, deflecting a pointed query during an interaction at the Vishwa Bharati University in Shantiniketan in West Bengal, as to what he would do for the job prospects of fine arts students studying classical dance in the event of his becoming prime minister and therefore the chancellor of Vishwa Bharati University.

'There are many other jobs that a person can do'

"If I will be the prime minister of India like that is the only job a person can do! There are many other jobs that a person can do," the 40-year-old All India Congress Committee general secretary said in his response during his maiden visit to Shantiniketan in Bolpur, where he arrived to a boisterous welcome.

Three generations of Gandhi's family had been chancellors of the Vishwa Bharati University, which was founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan, 200 km from Kolkata. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi held this position in their capacity as the country's prime minister.

'You can write to me or to the prime minister's office'

Gandhi, who spent nearly one-and-half hours with the students, told them, "You can write to me or to the prime minister's office with your suggestions on how to strengthen fine arts studies."

When another student asked him about corruption at the university, Gandhi replied, "Corruption is a problem everywhere. You have to find a solution to it."

To another question, Gandhi said he could give students a lot of work if they wished it. "If you tell me you want to work, I will tell you when to do it and how to do it. Only writing letters to leaders will not do," he said.

The 'Three Chancellors' and Rahul

Gandhi, who reached the University in a car after he flew in by a helicopter, met nearly 1,000 students at the Rabindra Bhavan and discussed several issues with them for over an hour.

He also inaugurated an exhibition 'Three Chancellors' on the tenures of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as chancellors of the central university. The exhibition, organised by the Vishwa Bharati, comprised photographs and correspondences of the three late prime ministers -- all from the Gandhi family -- who visited Shantiniketan as chancellors of the University.

Rahul visits Shantiniketan

Clad in a white kurta and pyjama and sporting a stubble, Gandhi was greeted by students of the Pathabhavan school. He shook hands with a few of them after alighting from his car at the gate of Rabindra Bhavan.

The 80-minute interaction with students from all the 50 departments at Rabindra Bhavan was kept out of bounds for the press. Gandhi earlier visited the 'Udayan' complex to pay floral tributes at the room used by Tagore.

After the interaction, he again walked back to the gate where hundreds of people, some even perched on trees, cheered him on, shouting 'Vande Mataram' and 'Rahul Rahul'. Gandhi shook hands and greeted some of them before leaving the premises.